THE TECHNOLOGY AT THE HEART OF OPTICAL WIRELESS

-REVANSIDDAPPA.S.R

INTRODUCTION
Simple point-to-point communication for longer

distance. Environment friendly and least threat of tracing signals. Low investment , faster installation and easily upgradable. Large data transmission of about 2.5Gb/s for upto Hundreds of kms in range without any licensing of signals. It can be operated in highly sensitive technology like space .

TECHNOLOGY OF FSO
Clear line-of-site technology.
Depended on clear atmosphere. Use invisible modulated beams of light instead of

radio waves. Transmission speed up to 1.25 Gbps. They allows communication through windows without the need for rooftop mounted antenna . 40 Gbps has been successfully tested in laboratories.

How FSO works?

2 Transmitter projects the carefully aimed light pulses into the air 3 A receiver at the other end of the link collects the light using lenses and/or mirrors

5 Reverse direction data transported the same way. Full duplex 1 Network traffic converted into pulses of invisible light representing 1s and 0s 4 Received signal converted back into fiber or copper and connected to the network

Anything that can be done in fiber can be done with FSO

How FSO works?

Conti

Optical wireless unit uses an optical sources + transmitting lens

or telescope that transits light through the atmosphere to receiving lens. It transmit invisible, eye-safe light beams form source to destination using low power infrared laser in the THz spectrum. Light focused on highly sensitive detector receives. At this point, the receiving lens or telescope connect with optical cable which gives our original information. Commercially, available systems offer capacities in the range of 100 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps. Most FSO system use simple ON-OFF keying modulation format.
5

Transmission Issues
Alignment: FSO systems have to maintain transceivers alignment. Transceivers transmit highly directional and narrow beams of light that must impinge upon the receiver aperture. FSO receivers have a limited cone of acceptance and is similar to the cone of light projected by the transmitter.

Transceiver Unit
The received laser beam (yellow) is much wider than the transmitted

beam (red). Thats why the receiver lens is so much larger than the transmitter lens. Both lenses, which share the same axis.

Optical Source
The modulated light source, which is typically a LASER or

LED, provides the transmitted optical signal. LASER

1. Modulates at 20 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps 2. Coherent 3. Operate in the 850 to 1550 wavelength band

LED
1. Very difficult to modulate high intensity 2. Non coherent 3. Less optical output 4. Less expensive & less complex circuitry 5. Longer lifetime than laser
8

Optical Detectors
PIN photodiodes Inexpensive Sensitive in the red and infrared spectrum Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) Expensive Required a high voltage (about 1000 volt) Many types have poor red wavelength sensitivity Avalanche Photodiodes (APD) Expensive Excellent red sensitivity
9

SOME IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF FSO

ATMOSPHERIC ATTENUATION:
FSO system is typically dominated by the fog but can also be dependent

upon low clouds, rain, snow, dust, and various combinations of each.

SCINTILLATION:
It is defined as the changing of light intensities in time and space at the plane of a receiver that is detecting a signal from a transmitter located at a distance. The received signal at the detector fluctuates as a result of the thermally induced changes in transmission path.

ALIGNMENT:

Due to the transmission of the highly directional narrow beams of light that must reach receiver aperture on opposite transceiver, It transmits one or more beams which is 5-8 cm in diameter at transmitter and at receiver it spreads upto 1-5m in diameter for a range of 1km.

SOME IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF FSO

TRANSMISSION :
For transmission ,modulated light source is used which is typically a laser or LED , Laser light source use wavelength band of 850-1550nm. Some important characteristics of in transmission is Ability to operate at high power levels. Small foot print and low power consumption. High speed modulation. Ability to operate over a wide temperature range without major performance degradation

VCSEL :(Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser)

It is low cost high reliable, hight speed laser technology. Active cooling is not required It emits light in the form of a circular bean instead of n elliptical beam.

APLIFICATION SOURCES:
Sources such as EDFA and SOA are used to boost the power of lower-power laser sources.

SOME IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF FSO

PEAK OUTPUT POWER:

The maximum allowable output power of a transmission source. FSO peak rating should be 1. Approximately it should be twice the average output power.
AVERAGE OUTPUT POWER:

It is defined as the transmit power of FSO transceiver. Average power is used for eye safety. Digital signal like 1s and 0s are transmitted using coding schemes with 50% duty cycle.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:

The performance of a FSO link is primarily dependent upon the climatic condition. It is capable of operating at arangeof two to three times that of the naked eye in any particular environmental condition.

FSO ARCHITECTURE
POINT-TO-POINT ARCHITECTURE: Point-to-point architecture is a dedicated connection that offers higher bandwidth claims it can deliver 10Gbits/ sec. "Terabeam" can provide up to 2Gbits/sec now 155Mbits/sec and I 0Gbits/sec at a distance of 2 kilometers (km) to 4km Access" FSO can support speeds

FSO ARCHITECHTURE
MESH ARCHITECTURE:

A meshed configured can support 622Mbits/sec at a distance of 200 meters(m)To 450m. TeraBeam claims to have successfully tested 160Gbits/sec speeds in its lab, But such speeds in the real world are surely a year or two off
Mesh architectures may offer redundancy and higher reliability with easy node addition but restrict distances more than the other options.

FSO RACHITECTURE
POINT-TO-MULTIPOINT ARCHITECTURE Point-to-Multipoint architecture offers cheaper connections and facilitates node addition but at the expense of lower bandwidth than the point-to-point option A single node serves as an originator and multiple links emanate from it. The most effective method is to connect each FSO link into a layer 2 or 3 device located in a building closet. In a point-to-multipoint arrangement, FSO can support the same speeds as the pointto-point arrangement-155Mbits/sec to 10Gbits/sec-at 1km to 2km.

APPLICATION OF FSO
LAST MILE ACCESS: FSO can be used in high-speed links that connect end-users with

Internet service providers or other networks. It can also be used to bypass local-loop systems to provide businesses with high-speed connections.
ENTERPRISE CONNECTIVITY: The ease with which FSO links can be installed makes them a natural

for interconnecting local-area network segments that are housed in buildings separated by public streets or other right-of-way property

APPLICATION OF FSO

BACKHAUL:
FSO can be used to carry cellular telephone traffic from antenna towers back to facilities wired into the public switched telephone network. SERVICE ACCELERATION: FSO can be also used to provide instant service to fiber-optic customers while their fiber infrastructure is being laid. Metro Area Network ( MAN ): FSO network can close the gap between the last mile customers, there by providing access to newcustomers to high speed MANs resulting to Metro Network extension.

MERITS OF FSO
1. Free space optics offers a flexible networking solution

that delivers on the promise of broadband. 2. Straight forward deployment-as it requires no licenses. 3. Rapid time of deployment. 4. Low initial investment. 5. Ease of installation even indoors in less than 30 minutes. 6. Security and freedom from irksome regulations like roof top rights and spectral licenses. 7. Re-deployability

LIMITATIONS OF FSO

1. FOG Fog substantially attenuates visible radiation, and it has a similar affect on the near-infrared wavelengths that are employed in FSO systems. Rain and snow have little affect on FSO. Fog being microns in diameter, it hinder the passage of light by absorption, scattering and reflection . 2. PHYSICAL OBSTRUCTIONS Flying birds can temporarily block a single beam, but this tends to cause only short interruptions and transmissions are easily and automatically re-assumed. Multi-beam systems are used for better performance. 3. SCINTILLATION Scintillation refers the variations in light intensity caused by atmospheric turbulence. Such turbulence may be caused by wind and temperature gradients which results in air pockets of varying diversity act as prisms or lenses with time varying properties.

LIMITATIONS OF FSO

4. SOLAR INTERFERENCE
This can be combated in two ways. The first is a long pass optical filter window used to block all wavelengths below 850nm from entering the system. 5. SCATTERING Scattering is caused when the wavelength collides with the scatterer. The physical size of the scatterer determines the type of scattering.

* When the scatterer is smaller than the wavelength-Rayleigh scattering. * When the scatterer is of comparable size to the wavelength -Mie

CONCLUSION
Free space optics (FSO) provides a low cost, rapidly deployable method

of gaining access to the fiber optic backbone. FSO technology not only delivers fiber quality connections, it provides the lowest cost transmission capacity in the broadband industry.
As a truly protocol-independent broadband conduit, FSO systems complement legacy network investments and work in harmony with

any protocol, saving substantial up-front capital investments.

A FSO link can be procured and installed for as little as one-tenth of

the cost of laying fiber cable, and about half as much as comparable microwave/RF wireless systems.